Act I - 03 - You've Been Living Like a Little Mare in the Middle of Your Little World...

Act One:

"Charade You Are"

Chapter Three

"You've Been Living Like a Little Mare in the Middle of Your Little World..."

The hallway was pitch black. Rarity stumbled through the darkness, somehow she had ended up here. A strange feeling came from her chest. She tried to ignore it. She walked towards the light, seemingly the only way of escape from this dark tunnel. As the light came closer, the feeling from her chest became more noticeable.

"Is anypony there?" Rarity called out towards the light.

A strange moaning sound came from the light. Whatever was at the end of the hall was seemingly in pain. Worried for whatever it was, Rarity began running, the strange feeling in her chest growing. Suddenly Rarity was blinded as she stumbled into the light. When her eyes adjusted, she found herself in a large white room with black stripes on the floor. Across the room was cot and what looked like a white pony laying on it with red stains on it's body.

"Are you alright?" Rarity asked tentatively. The pony on the other side of the room moaned again, a strange aching moan. Rarity made her way closer to the seemingly wounded pony. She switched into a tense trot, finally reaching the white pony.

She gently poked the pony, hoping to get a response. Instead of moaning as it had done before, the pony limply rolled over onto it's back, revealing--

Me?

Rarity gaped at her copy and the bloody gaping hole in its chest. Rarity screamed at the sight of her dead doppelganger. She backed away as fast as possible and turned to run back to wherever she had just come from. Instead of a door leading back to the hallway, now there was a white wall.

Rarity was trapped. Panicking she started to run all around the room, desperately searching for a way out. The room seemed to start to stretch and bend, increasing the distance between her and the walls. The floor beneath her began to feel less like solid tile and more like quick sand. She found it growing harder to move. She looked down at her hooves and was terrified as she realized that they were now sinking into the now blood red floor. She tried to free her hooves to no avail.

All her struggling just managed to make the strange liquid cling and drag her down even more. She fell forward and some of the liquid got in her mouth. It tasted like metal and salt. It tasted like blood. To her horror she realized that this wasn't quicksand, but a massive pool of blood. She let out a ear piercing scream for help to no avail. As her body sank into the blood, she gasped and fought for air. She let out on last scream as her head followed the rest of her body was swallowed up.

////////////////////////////

Rarity bolted upright in the small room, panting and gasping for air. Only the gentle hum of the car battery greeted her. She strained every tried muscle to sit up in the cot. The gentle light of dawn made it's way into the room. Rarity calmed down, the light of the sun warming her coat. She leaned back and simply started at the ceiling.

From the cot across the room Kili snored. Rarity watched him. How could he survive this? she wondered, taking in the bare room. The torture, the boredom, the loneliness...

As if on cue, Kili woke from his slumber. "Oh. Good morning Miss Belle," he said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with his paws.

"Morning," Rarity said. "Please don't call me 'miss'. I'm not some old mare you know."

Kili laughed. "I know that." he said as he got up and walked to the small mirror on the wall. "I was just using proper etiquette. Don't they have that in Equestria?" Rarity shifted down in her cot. She felt guilty. Here was a kind and gentle diamond dog who just trying to be nice and all she was always being was vain and stuck up to him.

"Kili?" she asked.

"Yes?" he said as he groomed his whiskers.

"What's the real reason you helped me?"

He stopped and looked at her in the mirror. "Same as I said before. I'm a doctor, that's what I do. Help those who can't help themselves."

"Well..." Rarity searched for the right words. "Why did they do this?" she motioned to the metal ring in her chest.

Kili sighed and turned to Rarity. "They do it because they hate," he said, his face somber.

"But why do they hate? What have I ever done to deserve their hate?" Rarity asked, tears welling in her eyes.

Kili walked over and sat on the end of her cot. "Nothing you've done in particular. They just hate everyone who's richer or better off then them." he sighed. "They hate ponies in particular. For the supposed way you keep us down."

Rarity processed what he said. "Well, if they hate everypony, why did they kidnap me? Why not a prince or something?"

Kili sighed. "I guess you were just the wrong pony in the wrong place at the wrong time." he shrugged. There was a moment of silence between them.

"How much are they holding me for?" Rarity asked. Might as well know what I'm worth. She thought. Kili didn't answer. "Well?" Rarity asked, trying to be as kind as possible.

"I honestly don't know." Kili said as he got up and walked over to his cot, reaching under the pillow to reveal a small book.

Rarity was perplexed. "What do you mean 'you don't know'? Don't you work for these ruffians?"

Kili shot her a dirty look, his normally kind face now an angry sea of red. "Listen. I don't 'work' for the those guys, okay?" he said, pointing at the ever present camera. "They came to my town, killed my family and drafted me into their personal war, okay? If it were up to me, I would be going to the Canterlot University to study medicine."

Rarity was shocked by the sudden burst of anger from the normally placid diamond dog. "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't know," Rarity said, feeling like a total plothole for the way she acted towards him.

"It's alright." Kili said, having calmed down. "I'm sorry as well. You wouldn't have known that. And I overreacted." He sat on his small cot. Rarity looked at the book in his paws. It was a tattered old copy of Crime and Punishment.

"Have you ever read this?" Kili asked.

Rarity shook her head. "No, unfortunately. I haven't."

Kili sighed. "Oh, too bad. I heard a lot about, and picked up a copy before they kidnapped me. Now it's all I've got."

Rarity was quiet for a moment. She thought about home, about Braeburn, about Sweetie Belle, about her parents. She wondered if they would even care that she was gone. Kidnapped no less. She suddenly felt very alone in the world, the meaningless of her life slowly creeping up on her.

Suddenly a pounding came from the metal door, along with the prescribed jangling of keys. Rarity and Kili both stood up as the door finally opened, revealing the same fat diamond dog from before and the griffin who was in charge of torture.

"Morning Miss Belle," the griffin said in a surprisingly cultured accent. Whom ever this guy was, he was educated. "Herzlos' the name." he said, seemingly reading Rarity's mind. "It is said that 'Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking on living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.' Do you know who said that?" the griffin apparently named Herzlos, said, looking at Rarity, who was drawing a blank as to who had said that. How was it that everypony--and griffin--in this third-world place was more educated than she was?

The griffin laughed to himself, a guttural laugh, like that of a dragon content with eating a princess. "Famous pony writer of yours. I don't remember who. Shame nobody ever took the quote literally." He walked around the small room, looking at the cot and at the walls, as if it were an art museum. "You know what you do with vampires?" the griffin turned towards Rarity, who tried her best not to vomit at the prospect. "You kill them." With these words the griffin tore a hole in her pillow.

"You're going to kill me?" Rarity finally asked.

The griffin looked at her. Hiss eyes were cold. "Well, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But the chance is there. That I do promise." He turned towards the door and stalked out, followed by the fat diamond dog.

"Wait!" Rarity called to the griffin, who stopped and looked back at her. "I heard I was being held for ransom...how much might that be exactly?"

The griffin looked surprised at Rarity's boldness. "Oh, I don't know, something along the lines of a couple million or something, I honestly don't remember." A sick smile crossed his beak. "Either way, I'm still may or may not kill you. I honestly don't care." He walked out the door, followed by the diamond dog who closed it behind them.

////////////////////////////

The phone rang. Braeburn was trying to sleep. Maybe ifin I ignore it, it'll go away. He thought. The phone rang again. Nope. Nothin' doing. The phone rang again. Braeburn angrily sat up, turned on the light and picked up the phone.

"Hello? Who's there? Don't ya know it's 3 in tha mornin'?!" Suddenly a strange computer-modulated voice came from the phone.

"We have her." this woke Braeburn out of his half-asleep state.

"Wha? Who's 'her'?" Braeburn asked, suddenly concerned.

"Rarity Belle." the strange voice said. Braeburn's eyes narrowed.

"Who is this?"

"None of your business. The important thing is that WE have HER."

Braeburn's eyes widened at the sudden realization of what was going on. He decided to play it cool, try and find out what they wanted. Maybe there was a chance that he could find out who this was. "Alright. Y'all have her...wadda you want?"

There was a pause from the other side. Finally the voice said "Money."

Braeburn rolled his eyes. Duh they wanted money. That's all these guys ever wanted. "Alrighty then. How much do y'all want." Braeburn asked.

"10 million bits."

Braeburn nearly dropped the phone. "10 million? Y'all crazy?! Who do y'all think y'all are?"

"We are the Ten Rings. Pay up. Or else." with those words the phone hung up, leaving Braeburn with the phone. He desperately dialed Rarity's phone number. "Come on, pick up, pick up!" instead of Rarity picking up the phone all he got was her voice mail: "I'm sorry. I'm too busy being fabulous to talk to you right now dear. Please leave a message after the beep. Ciao darling!"

"Rarity, it's me, Braeburn. Tell iffin ya get this message here alright?" he hanged up. His face was now pale with fear. Something about that voice made him feel uneasy. Maybe it was the computerized tones. Maybe it was the fact that Rarity hadn't received a single one of his calls all day yesterday. What could he do? Call the police ya dimwit. He thought. He dialed the police and waited.

"Hello, Canterlot Police Department. How may I be of service?"

Braeburn as relived that somepony was on the other end, especially at this hour. "Um, yes, I'd like to report a kidnapping." He said, trying his best not to sound panicked.

"Okay, what evidence do you have of this?" the voice on the other end sounded exhausted "Well, I just got a phone call with somepony on the other end sayin' they had her." Braeburn mentally facehoofed at his reason. That might be the lamest evidence ever.

"Well, sir, are you sure it wasn't just a crank call?" the receptionist sounded somewhat peeved that somepony would call at such an insane time as 3 AM.

"Well, fer one thing, the voice sounded like it was bein' fed through a computer-thingy." Braeburn said, feeling stressed

"Anything else? A name or something?" the receptionist said through a yawn.

"Yeah. They called themselves 'The Ten Rings'" with these words the pony on the other end suddenly seemed to perk up at those words.

"You're sure? Are you absolutely sure that's what the voice said?"

Braeburn rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted. "Yes. I'm pretty sure."

"You're address?" the receptionist said on the other end.

"4211 Wing Street." Braeburn answered.

"Alright then, stay by the phone and we'll send some officers over, alright?" the receptionist said.

"Alright. Will do." Braeburn hug up the phone and slumped down in bed.

Just then Sweetie Belle's voice came from outside his bedroom. "Hey, Mr. Braeburn? Is everything okay? I heard shouting?"

Braeburn suddenly felt scared for the little filly. What would he tell her? Hey Sweetie! Guess what? You're sister's been kidnapped by terrorists and is now being held for ransom! Ain't that great?! Braeburn rubbed his eyes. "Nothin' wrong. Just some prank caller."

"Oh. Okay. I can't sleep." Sweetie's voice sounded tried.

"Why can't ya sleep?" he asked.

"I had a dream." She answered.

Braeburn imagined the little filly standing outside his room, tried and sleepy. "That's okay..." he said as he got out of bed and made his way to the door. He opened to see Sweetie, with bags under her eyes.

"Come on. I'll tuck y'all back in an' read ya a story. That sound fun?"

Sweetie's eyes lit up. "You would?! Rarity never did that for me!" she bounced down the hall towards her room. Braeburn followed, his eyes heavy. They reached the room, and Sweetie climbed into bed.

"So whadda want me to read tah ya?" Braeburn asked, tucking Sweetie Belle in gently.

"I want to hear..." she thought for a second. "Cat in the Hat." she snuggled under the covers.

"Alrighty then." he looked around the room. Since this was the guest room, it had no children's book section or anything. "Well, I'll try mah best to remember. Let's see..." and he proceeded to try his best to remember the rhymes. Sweetie Belle was soon fast asleep, a peaceful smile on her face. Braeburn quietly got up and walked out of the room. The sound of knocking at the front door echoed through the house. He walked over and opened it, letting the two officers in. It's going to be a long night. He thought to himself.

////////////////////////////

Rarity sat on her bed, shivering. It had become routine, for months now, everyday at noon they'd pull her out of her room, no matter what she was doing, and then subject her to various forms of torture. The griffin who was in charge seemed to prefer water-boarding. She looked down at the metal ring in her chest. This is going to be the death of me, She thought. One more session and it would likely to short out. And then I'll be dead within seconds. She looked at the roof. The gems glinted in the light from the little lamp by her cot. Suddenly, an idea sparked in her mind. Forgetting the cold and pain she bolted upright. "Yes, that's IT!" she shouted the last words so loud that it woke Kili from his sleep.

"Wha? What's wrong? What is it?" Kili bolted up and looked at his cell mate, normally Rarity would be curled into a fetal position after the daily torture sessions. Instead she had a devious grin on her face. "You alright? You awful happy for someone who just got tortured."

Rarity looked at Kili, her eyes glinting like a kid in a candy store. "Alright? I'm better then alright!" she got up, levitating the car battery with her. "I think I've found a way to get rid of this!" she floated the car battery in front of Kili.

"Really? I can't see a way to live without that for long." He deadpanned.

Rarity huffed. "That's because you're too busy thinking INSIDE the box! You need to think artistically! You're a diamond dog right?" Kili nodded. "And diamond dogs are widely known for their rock mining abilities correct?" Kili nodded again, his face showing his confusion.

"And? What of it?" Kili asked.

"Do you have a pencil?" Rarity asked, ignoring the diamond dog's question.

"Excuse me?" Kili asked, now even more confused at his friend's actions.

"A pencil? Surely you have those here? You know? To draw with?" Rarity made drawing motions with her hooves.

"Uh..." Kili fumbled around in his front pockets. He was lucky, he DID have a pencil. "...here you go, I don't see why you nee-" he was cut off as Rarity levitated the pencil away from him and began to scribble on the table. She mumbled to herself, constantly erasing and redrawing. Kili simply sat and stared at her, not sure if the shock of kidnapping and torture had finally meant the cuckoo had left the nest.

"It is finished!" She said suddenly, "Come, gaze upon genius!" She motioned towards Kili who walked over and saw a rather detailed drawing of what was labeled "Diamond Arc". "Can you craft this?" Rarity asked.

"Um, I don't know, I'm a doctor, not a jeweler." He shrugged.

Rarity's head dropped down in disappointment. There was a moment of silence between them.

"Well..." Kili broke the silence. "...my dad was one. I worked in the store while I was getting my degree. I might be able to fashion a rough one...maybe."

Rarity's face lit up. "Oh excellent! That's all we need anyways!" She hugged him, the wires from the car battery pulling on her chest.

"Great?" Kili said, hesitantly. Rarity kept hugging. "You can let go now...this is awkward."

"Oh, so sorry." Rarity let go. "Well, do you want to know what it does?" She asked like a little filly asking a parent about a finger painting she just made.

"Well, that might help in crafting it," Kili said, still at a lost as to what exactly it would do or how it would work.

"Well, it takes the natural unicorn magic that I have in my body, and uses to maintain a self sustaining power source. Isn't that wonderful?" She giggled like a school filly. Kili's face showed that none of this was getting to him. Rarity sighed. "It's okay. All you need to do is help me get the gem I need."

"And what kind would that be?" Kili asked. "Well, it would have to be one that is good at conducting electricity..." Rarity's horn flared and emitted a beam that pointed at the wall. "What are you doing?" Kili asked, perplexed at the unicorn magic.

"I'm using my gem-finding spell to find the proper gem," Rarity said, obviously distracted by her spell.

"Oh..." Kili said. There was a moment of silence between them, only the ever-present hum of the car battery and the sound of Rarity's magic.

"Ah! Lucky us! Here we are!" Rarity suddenly stopped, focused on a spot on the wall and pointed. "Right there! In that rock right there is a deposit of the gems we need!"

Kili turned and walked over to the wall. "Here?" he pointed at the spot Rarity indicated.

"Yes. You've got to dig them up."

Kili gave Rarity a funny look.

Rarity huffed. "Please?" She said.

"Thank you." Kili said as he turned back to the wall and started digging, soon unearthing a couple of the large gems.

"These gems right?" Kili said as he set the gems on the bed. Just then he noticed the security camera. "Oh. I just remembered. Our friends." He pointed his paw towards the camera.

Rarity looked over to it. "Oh...them. Totally forgot about that." She thought for a moment. "Well, are there any blind spots in the room where we can work in peace?"

Kili shook his head. "Nope. They thought of that."

Rarity slumped slightly. "Well, might as well make a couple of chess pieces out of these for cover. Can you get me that diamond in the wall there?" She pointed to the rock in question.

Kili walked over and clawed it out of the rock. "Here you go." He handed her the diamond.

"Thanks. Since we don't have any proper tools, this'll have to do." With these words she levitated the diamond and set to work chipping at the rock. Kili stood there for a moment, waiting for an order of some kind. Rarity looked up from her work. "You can carve one if you want." She said, turning back to her work. Kili picked up a gem and started to chip away at it with his claws.

////////////////////////////

After several hours of chipping at the gem, Rarity finally decided it was ready for her. "Here we go." She said, her horn glowed as she cast a special enchantment over the gem so it would work. The gem started to glow, Kili's eyes widened.

"Wow...that's beautiful," He said, as Rarity levitated the gem in front of them, basking in it's blue glow. "Behold...the diamond arc," She said with flourish. "Now." Rarity looked over to Kili. "Time for you to do YOUR job."

Kili looked at her. "Oh, right. Your chest." He looked at her chest. The hole was round. The diamond arc was, well, a diamond.

"You know, the shape doesn't exactly match." He motioned to her chest.

Rarity looked down. "Oh, you're right. Guess I got a little too artistic with the design." They sat there for a moment, pondering what to do with the glowing rock. "Well, do you happen to have any chloroform left?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah, but not much." Kili said, his voice grave. "Anyways, another surgery like that just might make things worse," he said.

"Well. That's a risk we'll just have to take," Rarity said, doing her best to hide the fear she had.

////////////////////////////

Several torturous hours of surgery later, Kili stepped back, "Well..." he said, panting, "I think that went well." He looked at her bloodied chest. There it was, the diamond arc, glowing, giving her freedom and life. She was still unconscious. He had to hit over the head with a gem to keep her under.

She finally stirred. "Ugh...my head..." She sat up. "Sorry about waking up half-way through."

Kili shrugged. "That's okay. At least that meant you were alive." He chuckled.

Rarity looked at her chest. "Beautiful isn't it?" she sighed, taking in the results of their labor. She looked over to the old electromagnet and car battery. "I wonder what we'll do with that. Kinda sad to see it go."

Kili looked over at the makeshift pacemaker/electromagnet. "Well, whatever happens, at least you won't have to lug that car battery around anymore." They both laughed. For the first time in months there seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel. "Remember, though. Whatever happens, don't waste this gift." Kili said, pointing at the diamond in Rarity's chest.

Rarity smiled. "Of course I won't. I'll find a use for this..." she paused. "Not sure what, but a use."

////////////////////////////

A few hours later, they both sat at a makeshift table, quietly eating some more soup.

Rarity watched as Kili quietly sipped his soup, while reading Crime and Punishment.

"Um, Kili?" Rarity tentatively asked.

"Yes?" Kili said, stopping his sipping to turn a page.

"Well, you mentioned you had a family, you know...before all this, and I was wondering if I could learn more about them maybe? If you don't mind."

Kili looked up from his book, his content expression changing to one of sadness.

"Well," he sighed, closing the book. "I kinda dredding this moment you know."

Rarity looked down at the floor, feeling embarrassed to have asked such a personal question. "I-I'm sorry, Kili, I didn't mean to offend you."

Kili sighed again, "That's okay." he reached across the tiny table and put a reassuring paw on her shoulder.

He leaned back in his chair. "I mean, it's not like we have anything to hide right? Both kinda in the same boat here, huh?" he looked up at Rarity, who quietly nodded.

He let out a long sigh. "Well, back in my town, I had a wife, Brunhilde, and two little pups. Light of my life they were."

"Her name was Brunhilde?" Rarity asked, remembering an old opera her parents had taken her to once when she was a filly.

Kili nodded. "Yeah, her family liked music. A lot. She played the piano." he motioned with his paws, before letting out another long sigh. "I had a brother too, Fili, but he moved to Equestria to study physics or something, I honestly don't remember." he began to absentmindedly stir his soup with his spoon. "And I was the local doctor, you know, small stuff like the flu or something." he stopped for a moment, intently watching the soup spin in the bowl. "And she was the local music teacher for the little pups in town." he smiled wistfully. His smile soon faded.

"And then, one day, these people." he motioned to the cameras. "These people thought it nessicary to attack my little village. They came in, guns and such ablaze, killing whomever they wished." he returned to stirring his soup.

"And apparently, they needed a doctor, so when they found out where I lived, they marched in and demanded that I help them."

Rarity looked down at her soup. "And you said no?"

Kili nodded. "Yeah. So, they called their boss, that griffin fellow, and he ordered me to help. I refused. So he walked up to my wife, and said that he would kill her and my family if I continued to refused. I relented, not wanting my family to suffer needlessly. So I joined up with their band. And then as we were about to leave, the griffin ordered that his troops burn my house down." Tears started to form in Kili's eyes. "And, then, then he light a match and flicked it inside, and the whole house burst into flames and burned down, my family still inside." With those words, he stopped stirring his soup and blinked his eyes rapidly, clearing away the tears.

Rarity simply sat there, unable to comprehend the sheer torture that one must feel to see his family die in such a horrible way. "I-I'm so sorry, Kili....I didn't know..." she said, feeling like the absolute most insensitive pony on the face of the planet.

Kili, surprisingly, dismissivly waved his paw. "No, no, no, that's okay. You were curious. I stopped mourning a long time ago. Now, I simply hope that they're in a better place and that I'll go there and meet them someday." He sighed.

Just then there was a pounding at the door. They both instantly stood upright, forgetting their soup and morbid thoughts. The door burst open, sending the diamond dog fiddling with the keys sprawling on the floor. The griffin stepped over him. "It seems you two have been up to something I don't approve of," He said, his face showing both anger and sick pleasure at the same time. He glared at Rarity, his eyes instantly drawn to the diamond in her chest.  "What is this?" he stalked over to Rarity, shoving his claw into her chest. She winced as pain seared through her. "Well?!" he turned to Kili, his face twisted into a seething, boiling pot of rage.

Neither Rarity or Kili said anything.

"Well...if nopony's going to tell me what this is...I'll MAKE them tell me!" He grabbed Kili and shoved him to the floor. He shot a wicked glance at Rarity. "See you're friend here? If you don't tell me what that thing in your chest is, I will personally disembowel him." He pressed his claw onto Kili's stomach.

Rarity didn't speak. What could she do? If she told him, he'd probably want to pull the thing right out of her chest and try and build some sort of super-weapon with it. If she didn't tell him, Kili would die. Rarity gulped. Either way, one of us is going to die. Might as well be me, not like I've lived a worthwhile life or anything. Better me then him. "It's a diamond arc."

"A what?" the griffin was momentarily confused.

"A diamond arc. a self-sustaining energy source." Rarity said as calmly as possible.

"Good." He suddenly calmed and lifted his claw slightly from Kili's stomach. "See? Was that so hard?" Rarity let out a sigh of relief. The griffin's beak suddenly twisted into a evil smile. He shoved his claw back onto Kili's stomach and tugged. Rarity's felt her heart freeze in mid-beat and heard a scream piece the air, scarcely aware that it was hers.

She fell down on her knees and hurried to the dying Kili's side. "Why did you do that?! What did he ever do to you?!" she cried. "Simple. You're ransom was paid. You're free. But..." the griffin cleaned off his blood covered claws. "You still must pay a price for the sins of your past."

The griffin turned, snapped his claws and his minions followed him out. Suddenly Kili gasped, trying to speak. "Remember..." he gasped, coughing on the blood bubbling in his mouth. "Don't waste your gift." His eyes closed and his breathing suddenly stopped. Rarity simply stood there, holding his limp body. Unable to hold back, she released a series of deep, heaving sobs.

"You've been living like a little girl in the middle of your little world

And your mind, your tiny mind, you know you've really been so blind

Now 's your time burn your mind, you're falling far too far behind."

Fire by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.